87-Year-Old Auburndale City Hall Building Added to National Register of Historic Places

Thursday

Mar 20, 2014 at 9:27 PM

There was a time when the room in City Hall that is now the Information Technology Office contained a couple of jail cells. The 87-year-old building has hosted a number of city departments over time, but for the most part, the Italian Renaissance-style building has stayed the same.

By SARA DRUMM LEDGER MEDIA GROUP

AUBURNDALE | There was a time when the room in City Hall that is now the Information Technology Office contained a couple of jail cells. The 87-year-old building has hosted a number of city departments over time, but for the most part, the Italian Renaissance-style building has stayed the same.Now, a plaque has been fixed onto the column beside City Hall's front door, a rare exterior update: "This property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places."City Hall, designed by Lakeland architect Roland Buckley, features a yellow brick exterior, octagonal center tower, arches and columns. It was built in 1927.Its recently approved designation on the National Register was commemorated during an approximately 20-minute ceremony Thursday with a gathering of city officials, police, firefighters and the Leadership Polk class."By preserving our past, future generations will have the great opportunity to see and enjoy and understand where we've come from as a city," Vice Mayor Tim Pospichal said during the ceremony. "Auburndale is a community that is always looking forward because it knows its history so well, and its history is what has made it successful today."The building joins 11 other city halls in Florida on the National Register. It also joins three other Auburndale buildings: the Baynard House, the Auburndale Citrus Growers Association Packing House and the Holland Jenks house.Besides City Hall, the most recent Polk building to gain a place on the National Register is the Henry Lewis house in Fort Meade. It was added to the list in 2012. "Working on getting the City Hall nomination to the National Register of Historic Places was a learning experience for me in architecture and history," said Amy Palmer, the city's Community Development director. "I learned a lot about the building I come to work in every day."Palmer said a contact at the Florida Division of Historical Resources helped research the building's architectural significance, while she and the city's Historic Preservation Commission looked into its historical significance.For Beverly Scott, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission, City Hall has personal significance. She remembers climbing to the third story of the L-shaped building's tower as a child and looking out over the city.She also remembers slipping into the jail cells when they were empty one day.City Hall has housed most of the city's departments throughout the decades, and it has even housed the library and the Chamber of Commerce."It's just so cool that they didn't change it or modernize it," Scott said.The city has added a ramp and an elevator for handicap accessibility, and the fire truck entrance was removed. Other than those changes, and the smooth jazz that is played all day and into the night, the downtown fixture has remained as built.City Manager Bobby Green — after whom the street on which City Hall sits was named — said he is proud of the building's place in history and new status."Our celebration of this is part of what makes Auburndale unique," he said.

[ Sara Drumm can be reached at sara.drumm@newschief.com or 863-401-6971. ]